Floor truck



Jan. 14, 1947. F. J. SHEPARD, JR., ETAL 2,414,277

FLOOR TRUCK Filed May 31, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 'inverfio rs.

Frederick d.ShepuTd Jr. Frank Grbrino Jan. 14, 1947.

F. J. SHEPARD, JR., ETAL 2,

FLOOR TRUCK Filed May 31, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 o $2 23 'i- 4o 4 fi es ;f---2a 39 \j' 'jgggitiiiijjjlgg lnvenTors.

35 Frederick dfihepqrd Ur.

v FrunK Gcrbqrino 42 4 WM4W v 1 q I ys.

Jan. 14, 1947. F. J. sHEARn, JR; Em 2,414,217

FLOOR TRUCK Filed May 31, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Frederick \LShepord Ur.

Frank Garbcmino ATTys.

lnvenTora Patented Jan. 14, 1947 FLOOR TRUCK Frederick J. Shepard, Jr., West Newton, and Frank Garba-rino, Waltham, Mass, assignors to Lewis-Shepard Company, Watertown, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application May 31, 1943, Serial No. 489,206

4 Claims. (01. 280-49) This invention relates to improvements in floor trucks and the object thereof is to provide a floor truck constructed mainly of non-metallic material and which will be rigid, durable and of relatively lighter weight construction than usual floor trucks.

Usual floor trucks comprise a platform having a rectangular metal frame formed of angle irons, channel bars or associated angle bars constructed to receive the ends of floor boards which extend transversely of the length of the frame. The platforms of such trucks are usually carried by a pair of wheels the shafts of which are mounted in brackets which are welded to the side frames and/or to suitable metal cross girders and by casters the mountings of which are welded to the frame or to metal cross girders. Constructions of this character require a considerable amount of steel or cast iron or forgings which, by reason of the shortage of metal due to war conditions, are difiicult to obtain.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a truck in which the platform or load carrying means including the floor, the girders and reenforcing members which support it are of Wood or other non-metallic materials which are readily available.

Another object of the invention is to provide a floor truck having a platform provided with floor boards of wood, or other non-metallic material, which extend longitudinally of the platform instead of transversely thereof as in previous constructions.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel means for reenforcing the floor boards of r the platform to prevent sagging thereof when subjected to heavy loads.

A further obect of the invention is to provide means for clamping the floor boards, the transverse girders underlying the floor boards and the wheel units firmly together in such manner as to withstand the racking strains applied to the floor truck when in use.

Usual floor trucks are provided with stake holders located at or adjacent the corners of the platform provided with sockets to receive the vertical members of the push bars by which the truck is manipulated or posts or racks to prevent displacement of portions of the load from the platform. Where the platform is provided with ,a metal frame such stake holders are secured or welded to the frame at or adjacent the corners thereof. Where floor trucks are provided with wooden supporting girders the stake holders are bolted to the girders in such manner that when in use the wood is under tension and the bolts often torn out as the strain comes along the grain of the wood.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide stake holders in which when strain is applied the bolts are under tension andthe wood under compression thereby avoiding the tearing out of the bolts.

More specifically the invention comprises-stake holders having socket members which are formed integral with, by forging, welding, or otherwise, a flat plate adapted to be interposed between or superposed upon the non-metallic platform, the girder, and the base of the mountings of the wheel unit which are all secured firmly together by clamping bolts which pass through the superposed members.

Another object of the invention is to provide a construction in which the stake holders are provided with an anchoring plate having an extension with an integral socket member extending at right angles thereto and preferably extending through the plate and located beyond the end of the platform.

These and other objects and features of the invention will more fully appear from the following description and the accompanying drawings and will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of afloor truck having a longitudinal reenforcing beam underlying and engaging one of the longitudinally extending floor boards,v preferably the central floor board, and showing the floor boards, the girder, the stake socket members and the mountings for the supporting wheels clamped together by through and through bolts;

Fig. 2 is aplan view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a rear end view of the floor truck illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a detail vertical sectional view on line 4-4 Fig. 2;

Fi 5 is a side elevation of a trussed form of floor truck embodying the invention in which the front end of the truck is supported upon bull wheels and the rear end of the truck upon casters, the platform reenforcing means comprising longitudinally extending beams and transverse girders which underlie and engage the fioor boards with the mountings for the wheel supporting units clamped to the superposed members by through andthrough bolts; i

Fi 6 is a plan view of the construction shown in Fe.

Fig. 7 is a rear end view of the same, the vertical members of the push bar being broken away;

Fig. 8 is a detail vertical sectional view showing the assemblage of the stake holder with the floor boards and transverse girder, with the anchoring plate of the stake holder superposed upon the floor board;

Fig. 9 is a similar view showing the stake holder plate interposed between the floor board and the transverse girder and having an extension projecting beyond the endof the platform with the socket member ofthe stake holder extending therethrough and welded'thereto;

Fig. 10 is a detail side elevation of a modified form of stake holder whichidifiers from. that:

illustrated in Fig. 9 by the provision of flanges which embrace the corner of an outermost floor board, and illustrating-the manner in which it is assembled upon the'flood board and underlying girder; and,

Fig. 11 is a detail plan view of the construction' shown in Fig. 10;

The" construction illustrated-in Figs. 1-4 comprises "a platformhaving a series of longitudinally extendingfioor boards I, preferably of wood but which. may be of laminated fibreboard or other suitablenon-metallic rigid material. Preferably the floor boards I are'matched with their adiaicent edges connected by tongue and groove construction- Z. The floorboards, which desirably are of equal length, are mounted upon transverse front and-rear girders 3 and def Wood or other suitable non-metallicmateriah The front end of the platform is supported uponsuitable wheel units, such as brackets 5, having-fiat webs or mountings E which are secured to'the superposed girder and floor boards by a plurality preferably four through and through bolts 1. The brackets 5- areprovided with journals for the shaft 8 of the supporting wheels 90f any suitable character. The rear end'of the platiorm'is supported upon one or preferably two caster units comprising brackets is in which the shafts ii of the" respective-wheels. l2are journaled. The brackets H] are mounted on usual ball bearings (not shown) carried by flat base'plates it which underlie the-rear cross girder ti and bolts M.

which extend throughthe floor boards 2, the i cross girder 4, and the base plate of the caster unit, firmly clampthem together.

Inthe. constr'uction illustrated in these figures and in detail in Fig. 4 stake holders are provided to receive the ends of inverted U-shaped push l bars l5 for steering and otherwise manipulating the truckbut which, of course, may be employed to receive stakes or racks for preventing displacement of ortions of the load which is piled upon the truck.

One of the principal'f'eatures of the invention is to provide a stake holder construction which is more rigidly anchored to the truck having a flat anchoring plate which is adapted to be secured to the platform by the through and through bolts which clamp the floor boards, the girder; and wheel units together, the construction being such that the material of the floor boards and transverse girder is at all times under compression while the bolts which secure them together are under'tension as distingushed iromprior constructions in which the end portions of'wooden' fioor boards are subject to tensile strain and the bolts to lateral strains which tend to pull the bolts lengthwise of the floor boards in the direction of the grain of the wood.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 1-4 the stake holder comprises a vertical tubular socket member it which extends through a central aperture in a rectangular anchoring plate I? and preferably is welded thereto to provide an integral construction. The anchoring plate ll is provided with bolt holes so positioned as to permit the passage therethrough of the bolts 54 which clamp the floor board, the girder, and the base of the caster unit together.

As illustrated in Figs. 1-4 the anchoring plate i? is interposed between the lower face of the floor board l and the girder d and the socket memberwhich may be a section of pipe extends through both the floor boards and the girder with its lowerend resting upon the base of the caster unit and its upper end projecting a short distance above the upper surface of the floor board. The socket memberlfi is provided near its upper end with suitable alined holes to re-v ceive a locking pin or bolt it for detachably securing the push bar 65 firmly in place. of course, stakes or racks may be similarly detachably secured in the stake holder.

It will be readily understood that the stake holding members may be similarly interposed between the front girder 3 and the floor boards where it is desired to have stakes, racks, oranother push bar at the front end of the truck.

Suitable means are provided for reenforcing the floor boards preferably inthe form of a beam if; which extends longitudinally of" the central floor board with the upper surfacethereof en'- gaging the floor board and which is secured tothe transverse girders 3 and 4 by bolts lilac extending through the, floor board, the girders 3 and d respectively, and the beam 69. Obviously a plurality of such reenforcing beams may be employed and so located as effectively to reenforce the floor boards of the platform. 7

Other forms of stake holders are illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9 and still another form in Figs. ii) and ll. In the construction illustrated in Fig. 8 the anchoring plate 5'! is superposed upon'the upper face of the floor board 1 and the pipe or socket member it extends downwardly through the floor boards and the girder land isprovided at its lower end with an internal flange to form a base in the socket for the stake or leg of the push bar.

It is some times desirable to provide meansfor holding the stakes beyond the end-,orends of the platform. Such a construction is illustrated in Fig. 9 in wh ch the anchoring platerll is provided with extension 2% having a suitable aperture therethrough to fit the pipe or socket member iii; the socket member being secured-to the anchoring plate ii by welding. Of course, the socks et member and plate may be formed integral and the socket member be or any desirable length.

The stakeholders may be located in any desirable superposed position with respect to the mountings of the'wheel units which will permit the clamping bolts to pass through the bases'of the wheelunits, the girder, the anchoring plate of the stake holder, and the floor boards, and the nciioring plate may of course be'eitheripositioned intermediate of the girder. and floor boards or upon the upper face of the :floor board as:i1- lu'strated in Fig. 8.

Another: form of stake. holder whichis adapted to-embrace the cornerbithe outermostffioor boards" when the wheel unitismountedrbeneath the corner of the platform is illustrated in Fig. 11. This construction may be cast or forged as a unit or may be of welded built-up construction.

. It comprises a flat anchoring plate?! adapted to rest upon the end girder and underlie the corner of the outermost floor board I. It is provided with an integral flange 22 which extends upwardly alongside the edge. of the outermost floor board with a thickened extension 23 having a wall 24 which engages the end of the floor board and having a vertical socket member 25 integral therewith extending above and below the extended portion 23. In this construction the lower end of the socket member desirably is provided with an internal flange 26 to form a seat for the lower end of the push bar IE or stake which is seated in it.

Another embodiment of the invention as applied to a trussed platform is illustrated in Figs. 5, 6, and '7. In this construction the floor boards 21 extend longitudinally and are supported near their rear ends upon a pair of transverse girders 28 and 29 and if desired upon a suitable end girder 3B. The floor boards are similarly supported at their front ends upon more narrowly spaced girders 3i and 32. All of these girders in turn are mounted upon and supported by longitudinally extending side beams 33 thereby forming a trussed construction in which the transverse girders engage the lower faces of the floor boards. In this construction the front end portion of the platform is supported upon bull wheels 34, the shaft 35 of which is journaled in suitable brackets 36 having fiat bases 37 the ends of which underlie the girders 28 and 29 and engage the under face of the beam 33. Suitable bolts 38, which pass through the superposed bases of the brackets 31, the girders 28 and 29 respectively, and the floor board 2? firmly clamp these superposed members together and provide a very rigid construction.

The end girder 39 is likewise clamped to the beam 33 and floor boards 21 by suitable bolts 39 which desirably pass through each of the floor boards.

In this construction the bull wheels are located Well within the edges of the platform, as for eX- ample, beneath the second floor board from each side and additional clamping bolts 4!] desirably are provided to clamp each of the other floor boards to the transverse girders.

The rear end of the truck is supported upon suitable caster units 4! having wheels 42 of relatively smaller diameter and provided with fiat bases 43 which underlie preferably rectangular blocks 44 beneath the ends of the longitudinally extending side beams 33, the transverse girder 3 I, and the floor boards 2i. The anchoring plates I! of suitable stake holders having socket members l6 are interposed between the girder 3| and the floor boards 27 and the superposed members are rigidly connected together by long bolts 45 which extend through the floor boards, the anchoring plates of the stake holders, the rear girder 3!, the beam 33, the blocks 42, and the base 43 of the caster unit, thereby rigidly connecting all of the superposed members firmly together. It will be understood that in this construction other forms of stake holders such as are illustrated in Figs. 9-11 may be employed where it is desired to have the push bar, racks or stakes located be-' yond the. ends of the platform, the anchoring plate being made of suitable dimensions to be interposed between the girder and the floor boards.

Obviously stake holders may be provided if desired ateither or both ends'of the platform with the anchoring plate interposed between the girder and floor boards or superposed upon the floor boards or otherwise positioned in such superposed relation that through and through bolts will rigidly secure all of the superposed members including the wheel mountings rigidly and firmly together.

It will be understood that the particular embodiments of the invention shown and described herein are of an illustrative character and that modifications in construction and arrangement of parts may be made within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A floor truck comprising a platform having a floor of longitudinally extending wooden floor boards, front and rear transverse girders underlying the respective ends of said floor boards, suitable supporting wheel units connected to the end port ons of the respective girders including rear caster wheel units having flat metal mountings engaging the under face of the respective ends of the rear girder or girders, a pair of metal stake-holding units each having a vertical tubular stake socket and a flat base engaging the floor in parallelism with and superimposed relation to the fiat mounting of the respective caster wheel units there-beneath and a plurality of bolts extending through each wheel mounting, the superposed girder, base ofthe stake holder and the floor and clamping them firmly together.

2. Afloor truck comprising a platform hav ing a floor of longitudinally extending wooden floor boards, front and rear transverse girders underlying the respective ends of said floor boards and flush with the ends thereof, suitable supporting wheel units connected to the respective girders including rear wheel caster units having rectangular fiat metal mountings engaging the under face of the respective ends of the rear girder or girders, a pair of stake-holding units each having a vertical tubular stake socket extending through the floor and a fiat rectangular base engaging the under face of the corner of the floor in parallelism with and in superimposed relation to the fiat mounting of the wheel unit therebeneath and bolts extending through each wheel mounting, the superposed girder, base of the stake holder and floor and clamping them firmly together.

3. A floor truck comprising a platform having a floor of longitudinally extending wooden floor boards, front and rear transverse girders underlying the respective ends of the floor board, suitably spaced wheel-supported brackets underlying the front girder and secured thereto by bolts extending-through said floor, girder and bracket, suitably spaced casters having fiat metal mountings underlying end portions of the rear transverse end girder and a plurality of clamping bolts extending through the respective caster mountings, girder, and floor firmly clamping the same together, and metal stake-holding members each having a tubular socket provided with a flat anchoring base positioned in superposed relation to said caster mountings and connected to said platform by said clamping bolts.

4. A floor truck comprising a platform having a floor of longitudinally extending wooden floor boards, front and rear transverse girders underlying the respective ends of the floor board, suitably spaced wheel-supported brackets underlying having a tubular socket provided intermediate of its length with a fiat anchoring base in superposed relation to' said caster mountings and lo! cated between the girder and floor with the socket extending through alined apertures in the floor and girder and connected to said platform by said clamping bolts.

FREDERICK J. SHEPARD, JR. FRANK GARBARINO. 

